Microbes 'R' Us
Interesting ideas about the role of intestinal flora in human evolution. Why do specific groups have specific bacterial signatures? Do the diets fit the bacteria, or vice versa? Could this play a role in one of the posts from a few weeks ago about humans eventually evolving to be able to handle high-fat diets and not become obese: Since bacteria can evolve so much faster than humans, it is probably much more likely for a fat-metabolizing bacteria to arise than the human genome changing.
How Happy is the Internet?
Very interesting use of the internet in social research; the results from Twitter should be even more enlightening. Some interesting questions raised about popular music too: Is there a relationship between happy lyrics and popularity? As someone who listens to both "sad" (Radiohead, Elbow) and "happy" (Jack Johnson....umm, that's the only happy artist I can think of right now. Maybe I only like sad music...) artists, I think maybe the popularity of the artists may be a reflection of the overall mood of time. Happy mood = happy popular music.
But anyway, how can the internet not be happy when there is stuff like this on there. And this.
44 comments:
While blogs are a decent way to judge the happiness of the internet, they cannot be used to judge the entire internet. There are tons of blogs out there but the amount of people who blog is still a small percentage of the population. I did find it interesting that they found that teens use "sick," "hate," and "stupid" the most and I believe it but there is also a problem with that data. Unless they had someone read through every entry there is no way they could know if those words were being used as slang like "this new toy is sick". Teens use slang and alternate meanings for words a lot and a machine that is only finding words would miss that actual use of the words.
Also I believe that music is always changing and one day it will start becoming happier again. All there things go in cycles and there is only so depressing it can get before people do not want to listen to it anymore.
PS. I love XKCD...very funny.
I really liked the article about social research done using the internet. I don’t agree that happy lyrics lead to more popularity. I think it is more about the happy beat of the song. For example, I Gotta Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas is the number one hit on bill board charts right now and I believe it is because of the upbeat music rather than the lyrics. I do agree that the popularity of artists may be a reflection of the overall mood of time. One example is the sixties during the counter culture movement. There was a lot going on during that time and the music reflected it. The Beatles and Elvis are great examples. Also I am not surprised at all that teenagers are the grumpiest bloggers. I really look forward to hearing more about this interesting topic.
The article is very interesting in my opinion because when it said... "large slews of data, the researchers believed that people are more honest in personal writings than during formal psychological tests." I couldn't help but completely agree with that. I myself am more honest with my own personal writings such as diary or when I'm blogging to be more open and honest; where as when it comes to say for examples class discussion or social activities i tend to keep to myself until i don't feel comfortable enough to open up. I also agree with the the idea that there is a relationship between happy and popularity because when a majortiy of people are doing something "happy" or whatever makes them feel good, the majority of the population would be happy.
The article about happiness and it's correlation through the interesting was a very interesting read. Not only was the subject matter interesting but the detail about how the results were received and analyzed. It was not surprising that teenagers are the least happiest group while adults ranging between the ages forty-five to sixty were the happiest. It was also very enlightening to see the peaks and valleys which occurred of different days of the year. The song lyric results also were not much of a shock because much of the music produced today focuses on pain and angst rather than love or happiness. It will be very compelling to see the results of the research being done on the Twitter feeds as well. Also, I think it is important to take into account what Brian said that bloggers are not a majority of the internet population, and his point about "slang" was also quite intriguing.
In response to Shruthi's comment about the popularity of a happy song being based on how upbeat it is, I disagree. If you look at this chart:
http://www.joshhosler.biz/NumberOneInHistory/08/0806.htm, you can see that a majority of the songs that were #1 on the charts in early August were songs with "happy" lyrics. The article says that the mood of an era reflects which songs are popular, and I think that can be applied even more specifically to the seasons of the year. During the summer, there is a general mood of happiness which I believe is reflected in the billboard charts.
I want to see the results of the Twitter feed research, but I don't know what to expect. How would people express their feelings differently with only 160 characters to do so?
The article “Microbes ‘R’ Us” was fascinating. Who knew that women had more species than men?! By the way, who ever heard of gut bacteria influencing everyone’s appetite?! Bacterial evolution is adapting to new diets with plants?! Stunned by this idea. I believe eventually there will be a fat-metabolizing bacteria that will evolve to help humans not become obese from maintaining diet high in fat because as the article said, one's own genetic background plays a role. With many of us today eating fast foods, there might just be a chance in evolving a fat-metabolizing bacteria for some of our future generations. This would be a great thing to know since there is a high population of obese people compared to when our grandparents were children. If geography also plays a role, would only certain groups of people in a country evolve this fat-metabolizing bacteria?
“How Happy Is the Internet?” was an interesting read. It is true that people would be more honest about their feelings in their own words through writing music and blogging rather than being asked through a survey or psychological tests. I found their results pretty accurate when referring to music. Today’s popular music is not as happy nowadays due to the popular songs about breakups in relationships and the hate and pain in love. On the other hand, I think that their results on teenagers’ studies may have been a bit inaccurate because teenagers today use the word “sick” not as a grumpy state of mind at times. Just yesterday, my best friend said, “I finally got a job at Journey’s! Sick!” Obviously, she was more than excited. I am as curious as Psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky of UC Riversidev to find out whether people in countries with more positive bloggers live longer. This study and research should be an interesting one in the near future.
The article concerning emotions through the internet was pretty interesting. I can see how the average happiness levels go up when there is a great holiday. Also it was not that surprising how there has been an increase in pain and anger in the lyrics of popular songs. Back then there were numerous love songs from famous artists like Brian McKnight, but now the songs consist of getting drunk and going clubbing. Furthermore, it would have been nice if this article proved how blogging can either increase or relieve stress. Also at the end of the article, Psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky proved a good point by asking questions like "Do musicians with more positive lyrics sell more CDs?" "Do [people in] countries with more positive bloggers live longer?" I hope more research is put in to answering those questions.
Ahhh XKCD<333
I kind of agree with the idea that teenagers are the grumpiest. I mean on Facebook, a lot of teens post up song lyrics as their status maybe because that teen just really likes the lyrics. But on the other hand, that teen might actually feel what the lyrics are trying to portray. A lot of mainstream songs are mostly about hating, deceiving, and rarely love.
Most of the music - the ones I listen to, sadly - from the later dates ('50s, '60s, '70s, '80s) are much more happier and they focus on other things, making the adults from ages forty-five to sixty the happiest.
The article on "How Happy is the Internet?" was cool. What the researchers found was that teens are the grumpiest. I dont think that should be based on them using stupid, hate, and sick. Many of us use them for different meanings. For example I might say I hate someone but not for real but as a joke about something. It is interesting that the article mentioned that there are more sad songs. I could understand that because times are getting hard and some artists express how they feel through their music.
"How Happy is the Internet?" is an interesting article. I agree that most teenagers do use hate and sick a lot, but the context might be different. The researchers have to read the sentence to really understand if the teenage really feels that way. For example, many teenagers jokingly say "I hate you" many times. Saying this does not really mean that they hate the other person. The researchers have to read the sentences, especially those from teenagers, to make this accurate from my point of view.
I don’t believe that the popularity in artists have everything to do with lyrics. For example some people like artists because their hot and other just like artists because their friends like them. I believe that popularity in an artist is determined by the phase that the teenage crowd is going through. Most people don’t even listen to music for their lyrics but just like the beat of the song. I believe [popularity in an artist is created when they bring something new to the table not only in their lyrics but in their appearance as well.
The article on the microbes was interesting. I never knew, or would even think, that gut bacteria is essential for building a heart. It’s also intriguing to know that gut bacteria can affect one’s appetite as well as one’s behavior. It’s also interesting to know that gut bacteria contains at least 100 times more genes than the human genome. It’s amazing to know that bacteria can go through thousands of generations during our lifetime. The article was not something I would normally read, but I’m glad I did. \
I enjoyed the article on internet happiness. I’m surprised that the ‘blogosphere happiness’ has increased 4% since 2005. I mean, I’m glad that people are getting happier, or just blogger happier, but it just seems like people are unhappy. However, that is probably because teens are the grumpiest. As long as positive words like triumphant top the score, instead of words such as disgusted, I guess it is true that people are getting happier. I can understand that Christmas and Valentine’s Day are the happiest, while September 11 is sad. I wonder what the answer to the author question would be on “Do [people in] countries with more positive bloggers live longer?” It would be interesting to read a follow up article on this.
Though it's an interesting way to see if the world on a whole is happy, to me, there is no ideal way to take everyone into account. Yes, blogs are a good way to start, but blogs have strayed away from being journals for people to write about exactly how they're feeling (especially the ones I have read). Many blog about what they are interested in. For example, this blog is about biology and has very little to do with how our biology teachers are feeling. It is based on what they're reading, teaching, learning, and thinking about. Blogs have become much more informative and less emotional. The writer of the blog could be having a really sad month because something tragic happened, but they continue to blog about whatever it is they write about because they enjoy blogging. Many can find joy in reading/writing blogs about things they have a passion for, so generally, they enjoy the content and portray happiness. Most people would not sit and write about something they do not enjoy, so to me it would only make sense that the internet is "happy".
Another point on this topic is one that argues that many sad people in this world do not have access to the internet. Nearly one in six people on Earth do not have clean drinking water. Are these people happy? Most likely, they are struggling , and would be writing about their hardships to get people to help them, much like twitter enabled locals in Iraq to express their concerns about the recent election. To sum it up, there are over a billion people out there who are suffering, and don't have the resources that we have, so they cannot voice their emotions on the internet, leading to an upward trend in happiness on the internet.
I feel bad for bacteria... They have been given such a disgusting name with a negative connotation, but as we learn more about them, we realize how vital and advantageous they are. In fact good bacteria should be renamed.
I find it fascinating that the bacteria in the intestinal track regulate your digestive system. If you really think about it, the fact that they can evolve so quickly could save your life or end it. The article said that they could evolve to adapt to a temporary environmental change, but what if they never change back when you go back to the normal environment your body is accustomed to? Could this lack of changing back ham your body? This reminds me of myself and seasonal allergies. I used to have really bad allergies here in NJ, but they do not bother me anymore except when I go somewhere such as the beach, or out west where the pollen is not as bad. My allergies are fine and I notice no difference, however, when I return home, they start acting up again until my body adapts to the harsh seasonal allergies in our area.
The "How Happy is the Internet?" article was very interesting. I agree with Brian that using a blogging website to find out data is a good place to start, but there are still many people who do not blog. It's true that people find it easier to explain his/her feelings through words on paper rather than standing up and expressing his/her feelings. On the other hand, i do not believe what the article says about teens. Teens use hate and sick a lot, but the context of the word is different. For example, "That movie was sick!" Obviously, the word sick didn't have a negative connotation to it. I think researchers have to be carefully when reading sentences and really understand the contexts of it.
The article about internet happiness is interesting; I hadn't even noticed that songs have gotten more "depressing." I can see how teenagers are less happy than adults as far as blogging goes. I'm not really interested in reading personal blogs, but I've noticed that most teenagers throw around the words "hate" and "love." For example, instead of using "love" in a literal context, someone will just use the word when he/she is fond of something. I'm sure when the computer calculated how many blogs used certain words, it didn't include factors such as the aforementioned exaggeration and/or sarcasm.
The "How happy is the internet" article is very interesting. Some of the data obviously had some error because the context of words used in blogs were not put into perspective. Teenagers as well as adults may use negative words for a positive connotation. Although all possible error aside, the level of teenage grumpiness is not a surprise. Many teenagers go through dramatic phases that can be emotionally difficult. I can see how there is sort of a sad cycle going on in music, but I believe that music is reflected upon the state of society. Just like the emotions in blogs were affected by events like 9/11 and Christmas.
I dont believe one can gauge the happiness of the internet by only looking at blogs and song lyrics, to me, the internet is solely a stew of every bit of opinion or fact in one place. Lyrics and blogs can give us an idea of how a person is feeling about a certain subject, but there's so much more out there on the internet. The one blog I keep up with is Triumvir's, and the head of the business blogs about everything with a wide range of emotions, from sad(talking about witnessing his friend getting run over for some reason), to encouraging(he blogged about promoting the line of his sister company), to happy(showing pictures of a 20 mile bike ride with his buddys). All in all, I believe that only the witness of the internet can determine its emotion.
I agree with Brian in regards to the "How Happy is the Internet?" article. Teens use phrases such as "this is sick" when describing something they believe is extremely awsome. Such phrases (in these instances) denote a positive connotation. This is why it is important to consider these types of words in context. Therefore, the study conducted by Peter Dodds and Christopher Danforth can be improved.
I was extremely intrigued after discovering that humans are 90% microbes and 10% humans. I never realized the extent of importance microbes play in living organisms.
Regarding "How Happy is the Internet," I don't think that the researchers chose an effective method of assessing happiness. First of all, assessing happiness through blogs presents some inaccuracies. To start, not everyone has computer access. In fact, people who can't afford that luxury are probably the unhappiest of all and are misrepresented. And even people who do have computer access don't necessarily blog. Also, posts could be misconstrued. Sarcasm and exaggeration definitely come into play, especially with teenagers. And aside from that, most people don't advertise their true feelings. On holidays, people put on a happy face, but that doesn't mean they truly feel happy. And, on sad days, like 9/11, someone could be in a really good mood. But who would want to give off such a terrible impression and show their happiness on such a sad day?
Also, music trends do not always reflect the general mood of a population, or even a single person. Personally, when I'm feeling down, I don't necessarily listen to or enjoy sad music. Sometimes I listen to happy songs to cheer me up. And similarly, sometimes when I'm in a good mood, I appreciate sad songs simply because I enjoy the music. To some extent, yes, music does reflect the mood of the artist and its listeners, but I don't think it could reflect the mood of a huge population.
In regards to the happy lyrics versus happy beat debate, I think it's up to the individual. Sometimes songs make me happy even when I'm not listening to the lyrics. But sometimes a song makes me happy just because of the lyrics. In the same respect sad lyrics make me feel better if I can relate to them.
So basically, I don't think anyone could make accurate assumptions based on this data.
The "How Happy is the Internet" article was one that I never really considered, as far as the music goes. Personally, I do not believe that the lyrics are the only factor involved in making a song popular. I believe it is the inventive new styles of the music that draws people in to these new forms of music. Although these popular genres such as punk and metal are popular now, there are many other factors that could make them popular, such as the new sounds that are now made possible by modern day instruments. That being said, it is also possible that the more negative lyrics in these songs could appeal to the younger audience that was found to use more negative words in their blogs. The bottom line with this data is that there are so many different factors involved, sadder lyrics cannot be held completely responsible.
The article about the happiness of the internet made me wonder how accurate a study like this was on judging the mood of general population. Although many extreme emotions were found in the blogs that were studied it may not accurately asses how people feel. Many of these people may only blog or write lyrics as away to cope with their most extreme emotions. Someone who is feeling extreme sadness or extreme happiness is more likely to want to write about it where someone who is just having an average day may not always write about it. Because people are not blogging about EVERY emotion they feel its hard to judge how the average person feels.
The article concerning the happiness of the internet shows how music and social networking can work together to effect people's emotions. I have no doubt that music affects peoples' emotions, for people listen to music not only for entertainment, but for inspiration and comfort. People use social networking to connect with each other but it also allows people to express themselves to the world which would not have been possible before the time of the internet. When people use lyrics to express themselves it shows that that person listens to that type of music and inferences can be made to determine why that person listens to that music. The study of social networks and song lyrics together can reflect a lot on a person because many people reveal a lot more about themselves on these sites rather than in a formal psychological test.
In regards to the "How Happy is the Internet?" article I believe the research conducted picked up on themes and trends worldwide. However, it did not account for everyone who did not use the internet as a means of expression. People do not necessarily use the internet to express their feelings about society or current events. Some people paint or help out at soup kitchens when their opinions are positive or negative regarding certain things. I believe the experiment conducted was beneficial but other means of research should be conducted before assuming a mass of human beings feel a certain way in a given time and place.
I really liked the article about blogging and writing songs in regards to someone's level of happiness or sadness. While I agreed with some aspects of the article, I disagreed with others. I completely agree that writing either a blog or a song is a great form of expression, or even just listening to music is, as well. I know that when I am feeling an extreme emotion, I tend to listen to music or write about it to just get it off my chest. I also found it interesting that the results of the peaks of the most happy or sad days occurred on significant days that evoke either of those emotions.
It was not surprising that there has been a change in the mood of popular music since the 1960's. I listen to a wide range of music, so I've noticed that today's music is definitely more dark and less happy. It also was not surprising that teenagers were the grumpiest of the bloggers, since teenagers go through so many changes and think everything is a big deal.
Regarding the question at the end about more positive lyrics selling more CDs: I do not believe this to be true. I know of many artists who are successful with not-so-happy songs, and I enjoy their music.
I do not believe there is a correlation between happy lyrics and popularity. Not everyone likes listening to music that sounds happy. There are many people who like to listen to sad, slow, or music that may seem a bit indifferent. Also, happiness means something different for everyone. A song that may make one person happy may not make another person happy. Since it makes on person happy does not make the song, or the singer for that matter, popluar. Popularity of a singer came come from various sources. It could be the voice of the person, the beat of the songs he sings to, the lyrics(which does not have to be happy), or simply just because a friend likes that singer. A lot of songs become popular because the singer puts all his feelings and emotion into the song and lyrics. A lot of times the audience can relate to the singer, which can be another reason for the popularity of a song or a singer. There is not a sole factor that leads to the popularity of a single song or singer.
In regards to "How Happy is the Internet", I believe the internet is an unefficent way to determine society's general mood. There is a large gap in the information due to the researchers using modern technology. Many of the elderly do not have computers and for those who do, some do not have blogs. This also relates to younger people as well. A majority of the youth (as in teenagers) are the ones who keep blogs and teenagers tend to be moody and exaggerate. Also some of the words used by them have double meanings, which could have been misinterpreted by the researchers.
In regard to the statement about song lyrics becoming less happy, I believe this only has to do with the styles of music and what they focus on. One has to remember that with the emergence of such styles like "gangsta rap" the focus of songs have become less cheerful. One must also realize that some people only listen to songs for the instrumentals alone and do not look at the lyrics. (Please note that this comment is late because I had written one previously but I think something went wrong)
I found this article very interesting because their is a great amount of truth tied along with song lyrics and people's emotions. People throughout the world blog about what they are feeling and express their feelings by writing song lyrics. Whatever kind of mood I'm in I tend to listen to music that relates to my feelings. Happy lyrics and popularity I believe are not linked because people have their own thoughts about what music they like, not everyone likes the same genre of music.
I think that the article "How Happy is the Internet?" was an interesting read. But I have to agree with Amaka that I don't think that teens are the grumpiest based on them using the words stupid, hate and sick. I myself use the words but in a different meaning. And I wasn't really surprised that there are more sad songs than happy ones since people write about their feelings. And I personally like sad, slow beat songs.
How Happy is the Internet?
In my opinion, it will take a long time before the internet will represent everyone’s' feelings. Although computers are a large part of my life, there are still many people that live in the world that do not know anything about computers (my mother). Other groups that are probably not expressing their feelings in their daily blogs are very underprivileged people who don't have a computer or a home.
As computers and technology become an even greater part of our daily lives, "How Happy is the Internet?" will eventually become an even greater way to determine overall happiness levels.
"How Happy is the Internet?" reminds me of a video on Youtube that explains Twitter searching. Twitter Search in Plain English. This explains trends on Twitter and its uses that go beyond happiness.
Microbes 'R' Us
If the bacteria are the things that will metabolize more food and prevent obesity, than they are holding back our evolution. It seems that the more they evolve, the longer it will take for us to evolve. Can bacteria completely stop evolution in a human? In order to make humans evolve faster, maybe getting rid of some of the bacteria in our bodies would help, but we need antibiotics to get rid of them. But wait! What if bacteria are becoming immune to antibiotics? It’s never ending.
In response to Shruthi's comment about “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas, do you think the song would be on the top of the charts if the song lyrics were all about death, murder, and hatred. I don't know how much I'd like this upbeat song in a negative sense.
I think the information and data gathered in the "How Happy is the Internet?" could be very misleading and incorrect. Most times when people blog about feelings and personal subjects, they tend to exaggerate. For example, although some people were at a great loss when Michael Jackson died, most people were not sent into such a spiraling depression. I'm sure people said things like, "It's so depressing that Michael Jackson died." But is this person seriously depressed or are they just exaggerating the loss they felt when he died? Also, the article was right when it said that most teenagers use such strong words when describing their feelings. I can honestly say that I've probably said to my parents at one point that I've hated them for one reason or another, but did I really hate them when I said it? No, probably not. So I don't find it all that true when researchers say that they can detect the nation's average mood by blogs.
On another note, I think that musicians with more positive lyrics might sell more CD's and be more popular. I definitely prefer to listen to upbeat music when I'm driving, cleaning my room, or just about anywhere. That kind of music is more motivating and fun to listen to. The only time I've ever listened to not-so-happy music is when I was not in a good mood over something personal, but never when I felt sad about the state of the nation or anything to that extent.
Forgive me for being frank here: This is bogus. I think when society starts judging collective happiness based on anything that coincides with the internet, then society needs to reevaluate what happiness really means. The internet is certainly a powerful outlet for convenience: convenience of contact, purchase, persuasion, campaigning, etc... The internet also provides a convenient way to avoid real interaction with people. The more people get hooked on screens with words and less on contact comfort, the more people become like dispassionate bots. While words are powerful and can convey tremendous feelings in lyrics, blogs, and/or texts, they miss a quality that elevates the words to a different plane: the Voice. Hearing those lyrics, conversing with people, and being face to face with someone evokes the truest sense of emotion. The internet lacks emotion. Why would we ever trust it to determine society's happiness?!
The article "How Happy is the Internet" is very interesting not only because its been analyzed over decades now, because it also studies and observes people of all ages and not just one demographic. However, its accuracy might not be definite because like Brian and Azeem pointed out teenagers of today do tend to use an extreme amount of slang while blogging, texting, and even twittering. When the researches from the University study song lyrics of today and judge that a lot more artists are using hatred rather than love and happiness this is also interesting. However, instead of studying blogging, song lyrics, and status updates on a website i feel as if it would be more accurate to determine someones mood change or tense based upon what they say in person, and not on a website. Like azeem, I am very interested to see what the studies will conclude based upon the observations of twittering.
I dont think the article regarding the happiness of the internet really poses questions that can be accurately investigated with the results that they seem to be looking for. The internet is a very poor determination of the overall mood of society at the time.
Both internet blogs and music are things that can be highly varied and differ dramatically from person to person and even over periods of time. There are a lot of factors that go into what makes these things generally happy or not. In addition, oftentimes a particular musician, artist, or blogger will have varied moods and opinions.
If anything, blogs can be used solely to determine the possible mood of the person who wrote the article at the time, but it cannot be used to try and evaluate the mood of everyone else using the internet.
Also at one time there are many different styles of music that are popular. For every happy song that gains popularity, you can probably find one that is also equally as sad. Peoples musical tastes are very different and so are their perceptions of music. What may be inherently happy to one person may seem depressing to another, it all depends on a persons interpretation of it.
Since there is so much variation among content on the internet, I feel that you cannot accurately say the overall mood of people at one time based on just browsing the internet. People can only determine that for themselves based on what they choose to look at on the internet, and they can then decide for themselves what mood they are getting from the internet. Peoples opinion of the internet might even be very different. One researcher might find that the internet is very bland and void of new material, while another may find it to be intriguing. Its not something you can actually accurately determine.
I agree entirely with Jordan. I find it very difficult to assess true emotion through the internet. I don't think happiness is something that can be measured by how often certain words appear in blogs over a period of time. Happiness has to be measured on a personal level not over the internet. However, it would be a very daunting task to measure the happiness of a population by assessing each individual one by one, and there would clearly be variables which would prevent a completely accurate assessment. The internet is a very useful tool, but it does not offer a true representation of the emotions of a population.
The internet is not a good place to measure emotion. Many people may try to win sympathy or "one-up" by making their life or situation better than the truth. A blog is where opinions are displayed and sarcasm could be mistaken for happiness by a reader. There are a few times that this idea may be true, but more times then not, the internet cannot accurately showcase the population's emotions.
in response to the article "Microbes R Us" it is extremely interesting that our bacteria can change their genes several thousands of times within our lives when we cannot change ours. it is also very fascinating that microbe or bacteria cells make up 90 percent of our total count of cells. i found the line that we are only 10 percent human very humurous but filled with truth. Bacteria is everywhere on both the inside and outside of our bodys and truely make up what we are.
Their is a saying to "trust your Gut instinct." This article gives some new evidence on the workings of bacteria
in the gut area. Microbes in the gut can affect if you are obese or skinny, modulate your immune system and maybe even make you feel happy. We are 10 percent human in number of cells (shocking!) so understanding the affects of bacteria and microbes is important to understand our human evolution. I truly believe that if we can manipulate our gut bacteria we can lead healthier lives.
Another point to ponder on is that since the world is getting more "global" or "smaller" it would be interesting to study the gut bacteria of people who travel and live different countries. This must be creating some interesting combinations of gut bacteria.
My grandfather has a condition with his large intestine where it is not working properly and parts have been removed. I wonder how this will affect his quality of life in the future.
Wow! "How Happy is the Internet" was really interesting to read. The methods that these mathematicians used do not accurately portray happiness. I agree with what Danielle said earlier about how we listen to music for all different reasons. I know that I listen to some songs purely for their lyrics that I either relate with, or just like. And also, there are some songs whose lyrics may not be the best, but their beat or background music may appeal to me. I think that using just a few key words to measure the happiness of our society shows that these men were not thorough enough to provide valid results. I also agree that above all, using the internet to measure any kind of emotion is just silly. The internet does not have emotions, and using it to detect happiness is quite false.
I think the gut microbes have a chance to help us greatly in the future. With enough research I believe that we will be able to transplant gut microbes to help people with eating disorders or people that just have a slow metabolism.
Sharvari
I do believe that there is a correlation between happy mood and happy popular music because if one listens to happy song lyrics, then the music can encourage the person to reminisce old memories, it distracts the mind from painful or unpleasant thoughts, and helps the person find solace. Therefore, I can fathom how there might be a connection between the two.
Our gut bacteria is a very weird thing. It is crazy how the bacteria evolve to each individual based on the factors like family, geography, and diet. In my opinion, the bacteria evolve to the diet, not vice versa. Also, based on this information, it could be very probable that humans and their bacteria eventually evolve to handle and eat whatever diet they want. This is a weird thing to think about because if humans can evolve to their diets, what about all the medicine and research done for eating problems, diabetes, etc.
About the internet topic, the internet does not have to be labeled as "happy" or "sad" or any other emotion. The internet can be everything and anything. The flow chart picture is great.
The "How Happy is the Internet" article is very interesting. I feel as if the internet is a fantastic tool in which people can display their emotions and thoughts. However I believe that the internet cannot be used to judge the overall feelings or happiness of society. Even though the study covers almost every demographic it is not entirely accurate. As many of my classmates pointed out the youth in society, such as teenagers, use exaggeration or slang when blogging. Also their true feelings might be swayed by a fellow blogger and they might post something that they truly do not believe. However the fact that most blogging is done on topics that users truly have strong feelings for points this study in the right direction. For example someone wouldn’t blog about a topic that they do not care about. Even though the study is not entirely accurate I believe that there will be an eventual accurate connection between the feelings on the internet and the true feelings of society.
This article Microbes ‘R’ Us is something I haven’t heard much about so it was fairly new and interesting to me. One thing they plan on studying is their claim how the gut bacteria can be the difference of being healthy or sick, I don’t agree with. Instead of bacteria affecting out health I believe our health affects our bacteria. If you’re healthy and eat a wide range of nutrients then you’d have a wide variety of bacteria. When eating mostly unhealthy fat and sugars you have fewer bacteria. Is it possible to manipulate bacteria and introduce them back into out guts so they can be more beneficial? - As an example having bacteria that break down fat into another component that’s helpful?
I wonder if the researchers from “How Happy is the Internet” have been to fmylife.com.
That article wasn’t as appealing to me – I’d like to know how our rating compared to other countries however.
how happy is the internet? - i was not surprised when i saw that the teenage population looked like the most unhappy. although, when i saw that the happiest age group was 45 -60 i was shocked. i assumed that the happiest age group would be those from about 25 - 45 because they are the group that are fresh out of college, without a spouse, usually with a successful job, and relaxing and enjoying life. now that i think about it though, i think the reason that the age group 45 - 60 is the happiest is because their lives are all set and sturdy for the most part. the reason that the teenagers arent as happy are because they have the raging hormones, changing schools, puppy love, and all the little problems that, at that time, seem so important.
i also liked seeing that so many people we're affected by mj's death. you could see certain patterns as to when people are the happiest and when they are the most upset.
and i agree with Allie, i would like to see our rating compared to the rest of the world.
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